(Stop! Stop right now!)
Wang Hao screamed inwardly, but his body seemed to be taken over by another soul. Under the moonlight, Wang Hao saw pale blue lines appear on his arm, like the trajectory of stars.
Two hours later, when his body finally stopped, Wang Hao was almost in despair—before his eyes was the cave from his dream! The glowing vines hanging from the cave entrance swayed gently in the night breeze, as if welcoming an old friend back.
"No..." He resisted desperately, but his legs firmly stepped into the cave.
The cave was even more breathtaking than in his dream. The entire dome was covered with starlight vines, shimmering like an inverted Milky Way. The floor was engraved with a huge star map, with a circular altar at the center. Wang Hao's body moved automatically to the center of the altar, knelt down, and placed his hands on a groove.
"With the stars as witness, with blood as the guide..."
A strange voice came from Wang Hao's mouth, speaking some kind of ancient language. Even more bizarrely, he could understand it!
The vines on the dome suddenly blazed with light, countless points of light raining down and merging into Wang Hao's body. A sharp pain surged through him, and fragmented images flashed before his eyes—
On the ancient altar, a priest resembling him raised his scepter, summoning a meteor shower; in the desert, the priesthood used starlight to heal the plague; finally, a fierce battle raged under the starry sky, priests falling one by one, their blood staining the altar...
"Ah!" Wang Hao finally regained control of his body and knelt down, retching. The new memories in his mind gave him a splitting headache, but what terrified him even more was the strange power flowing within him—warm yet domineering, reshaping every meridian in his body.
"What is this...?" He looked down at his glowing palm.
A piercing pain surged again, and Wang Hao instantly knelt on the ground, his fingertips digging deep into the earth until his knuckles turned white from the force. Memories that didn't belong to him still raged through his mind—the healing network woven from starlight, the ancient incantations chanted by the priests, and the final battle that stained the stars red... Every frame carried a scorching heat, branding itself into the depths of his consciousness like a hot iron.
"Ugh—" He gagged again, his stomach cramping but unable to vomit anything. Cold sweat dripped from his forehead onto his glowing palms, evaporating into vapor with a "hiss" sound.
(What the hell is this thing...?)
The thought had barely formed when a second wave of memories crashed in like a tsunami. This time, the image was even clearer—he saw a Star Soul Priest from his memories, dressed in a star-patterned robe, standing beside a towering man. The man's features bore a striking resemblance to Han Feng's, only more weathered, and the star pattern on his forehead shimmered with a chilling light.
"Lord Jue Li, the barrier has been set up." The Star Soul Priest knelt on one knee, his voice steady and powerful.
Wang Hao clutched his head, reality and illusion overlapping in that instant. He couldn't tell whether the person kneeling on the altar was his present self or the Star Soul Priest from his memories. A violent tearing sensation spread from his temples down his spine, as if someone were stirring his brain with a red-hot iron hook.
The memories continued to flow: countless extraterrestrial creatures of various shapes broke through the spatial barrier, and the man named Jue Li led his priesthood to meet them in battle. Starlight and dark blue crystal clusters collided in space, and the resulting energy ripples destroyed all the asteroids in their path.
"Hold on! The star trail is almost complete! Myself" was constructing some kind of complex formation in the void, and blood was seeping from all seven orifices.
The final image froze on a colossal blue claw that blotted out the sky—it easily tore apart Jueli's chest, the aftershocks turning all the nearby priests into a bloody mist. Before losing consciousness, "he" used his last strength to crush a dazzling starlight crystal...
"I swear by the stars... that I will be reborn... and surely aid my new master..."
These roaring last words exploded in Wang Hao's mind, making his eardrums ache. At the same time, the warm energy within his body suddenly surged, rushing up his spine to the back of his head, condensing into a complex star-shaped mark at his cervical vertebrae.
"Ah—!" Wang Hao threw his head back and let out a howl that was unlike any human's, his eyes turning completely into a dazzling silver-white. All the ancient runes in the cave lit up at the same time, responding to the energy fluctuations within his body.
When the light reached its peak, everything came to an abrupt end.
Wang Hao collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Sweat pooled on the floor, reflecting the starlight from the dome. He trembled as he reached for the back of his neck, where a thumb-sized bump now stood—the touch instantly unleashing a flood of information into his mind:
Star Soul Priest Inheritance. An exclusive class that assists the Star Soul Lord in battle. Abilities include Star Healing, Star Orbit Construction, Energy Amplification... and the ultimate forbidden technique, "Starfall Merit".
"Are you kidding me...?" Wang Hao's voice was hoarse. "I'm just an ordinary college student..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the mark on the back of his neck suddenly became hot. A new piece of information flowed into his consciousness—this time, it was specific spatial coordinates, about three hundred kilometers away, located somewhere on the outskirts of Kyoto. Even more strangely, he could actually "feel" something there calling to him... or rather, calling to the Lord of Star Souls.
"Han Feng..." Wang Hao muttered to himself, then suddenly realized something, "Wait, that Lord Jue Li looks so much like Han Feng, could it be..."
The mark sent another wave of burning heat through him, this time accompanied by a clear warning of danger. Several shattered images flashed before Wang Hao's eyes: blue crystals, a figure struggling in pain, and... Mu Xiaoxiao's cold, smiling face.
"Not good!" He stood up abruptly, his movements unusually nimble. His body seemed to be taken over by some kind of instinct, his hands automatically forming complex hand seals, and a bridge of starlight appeared out of thin air, connecting the altar to the cave exit.
The light at the cave entrance suddenly distorted, and a slender figure walked over the gravel. Mu Xiaoxiao's scarlet skirt swept across the moss on the ground, and when she saw Wang Hao in front of the altar, her beautiful face instantly contorted into a grotesque expression.
"I didn't expect you, little mouse, to find this place?" Her voice was as sweet as poison, and a ball of eerie blue crystal had already formed in her right hand. "You're really... in the way."
Wang Hao's legs went weak, and he collapsed to his knees. This wasn't ordinary fear—the oppressive aura emanating from Mu Xiaoxiao felt tangible, suffocating him and causing his vision to blur. Was this the kind of enemy Han Feng usually faced? What a joke!
Mu Xiaoxiao gracefully raised her hand, and blue crystal clusters rained down on Wang Hao. Just as death was about to touch his skin, the altar suddenly erupted with blinding starlight, and the crystals collided with an invisible barrier half a meter away from Wang Hao, shattering into dust.
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